Best of Both Worlds: 1964 Chrysler 300K

Research

The Chrysler letter car story is well known to the readers of Mopar Muscle. Starting in 1955 with the introduction of the C-300, through to the 300L in 1965, the last of the famed letter cars.

For 1963, the entire Chrysler lineup received extensively restyled exterior sheet metal and on the inside, gone was the electro-luminescent AstroDome instrument cluster, replaced with a much more traditional flat instrument panel. While most Chryslers rode on a 126-inch wheelbase, the two door models of the 300 letter and non-letter cars had a wheelbase that was four inches shorter at 122 inches. The biggest news for Chrysler in 1963 was the introduction of the 5 year/50,000-mile (80,467 kms) warranty, a move that set Chrysler apart from its competitors.

All the 300J hardtops (the letter "I" was skipped due in part to in that it might be confused with the numeral 1) were equipped the 413-cubic-inch V-8 featuring ram induction, producing 310 horsepower. Top speed was reported to be 142 miles (228.5 kms) per hour making it one of the fastest production cars in America, in spite of a curb weight exceeding 4,000 pounds. Sales were comparably poor for 1963 with just 400 cars produced as sales of the non-letter 300s continued to grow.

For 1964 the convertible returned to the 300K lineup but the cross-ram 413 became an option, a 300K exclusive not offered on other 1964 Chryslers and the leather interior became an extra-cost option. These moves allowed Chrysler to reduce the base price of the 300K by over $1,000( C$1320). The results were an eight-fold increase in sale to 3,647 units (3,022 hardtops, 625 convertibles), the largest total in the history of the 300 letter car series.

The car you see here, a 1964 Chrysler 300K two-door hardtop, owned by Michael Laiserin, one of those 3,022 hardtops produced for the 1964 model year, the last of the sixth generation.

Michael marks the start of his car enthusiasm in 1971 when he was just four years old, vividly remembering his Dad shopping for a new Chrysler when he planned to trade in the family sedan, a 1964 Newport he bought new, to his mom who was just learning to drive. "I remember a big blue fuselage-bodied Chrysler on the showroom floor with a white vinyl top and interior, fancy wheels and hidden headlamps," recalls Michael. "Looking back now I'm sure it was a 300 and kept telling my Dad 'let's get that one.' Being ever so practical Dad insisted on another economical sedan and the salesman took us out into the lot and showed us a Burnished Red Metallic Newport. I didn't like it and told Dad the wheels were ugly back then the wheel covers were in the trunk until the cars were prepped and this car was broken because the left front tire was flat. I remember noticing the unusual, dual-pinstripe whitewalls but remained unimpressed. 'Dad, let's get the blue one.' Of course, we came home with the red one."

For Michael, the 1964 Newport became somewhat of a plaything as he asked. "Hey Dad, if we still have this car when I'm old enough to drive can I have it?" To which his dad replied, laughing, "Sure why not."

"Little did he know the path he set me on," says Michael more than four decades later. "As I got older I learned to tinker on that car, changing oil, brakes, ignition points and more. By the time I was sixteen although the car was still around, I came across a big block '1970 Charger project. Dad wasn't a car guy and looked at the basket case with the engine in pieces and figured I couldn't get into any trouble. He knew he was wrong the first time a cop woke him up in the middle of the night and asked if he wanted me locked up and the car impounded or if he wanted to get dressed and come to get me instead. That ended my street racing activities for the summer and I was headed off to college anyway."

After college, Michael took the Charger off the road with plans to restore it and while he was collecting parts, came across a 1964 Chrysler 300K convertible. I had never seen a 413 cross-ram engine before and he had to have it. He did the best restoration a 23-year-old could back in 1990 and drove that car to every show he could attend. Soon after he replaced his 383 automatic Charger for a legit, numbers-matching 1970 RT/SE four-speed Charger. Once completed, he packed up his cars and headed west figuring Arizona was the place to be as he could drive his cars year-round and they'd never rust again. As the years went by, he didn't just add a wife and kids, like so many other car nuts, he added and completed projects that included a 1970 Road Runner with a Gen III Hemi, a 1969 Charger 500, and this 1964 300K hardtop.

"I came across this car sitting on a trailer in the swap section of the Spring Fling in Van Nuys, California," said Michael. "It was a complete, but rough looking, unrestored car. It was pretty devoid of options as far as luxury cars go, even radio and side view mirror delete. The original window sticker was in a box full of paperwork dating back to before the original owner even purchased the car. There were handwritten notes comparing prices from different dealerships and shows he traded in a Renault to order this "bankers hotrod." He checked off very few options, just leather trim, a Sure-Grip differential, and the '300K special package' which included the dual four-barrel, cross-ram equipped engine. The paper trail on the car spanned nearly 25 years with receipts for warranty work at the dealership, car washes, and even custom tuning at the famous Granatelli Automotive. I struck a deal for it and the seller trailered it to my my place in Phoenix."

While I've driven it to Mopars at the Strip in Vegas and the Spring Fling in California my favorite trip was attending one of the Chrysler 300 Club International's events which was held in Monterey, California. The show host arranged for an afternoon gathering at Laguna Seca Raceway where they allowed us all to do some exhibition runs around the course. Not going to miss the chance, with the wife and my three kids (the youngest 10 months old and in a car seat) securely fastened we hit the track for a few laps. I'm confident my girls will be able to say they're likely the only little girls to have experienced the famous corkscrew in the family show car. Not even Disneyland can compete with that.

"I figured that this car was going to be the bookend to my 300K convertible, only with a modern twist," explains Michael. "Having owned my ram engine ragtop for over 20 years, I know that even when tuned properly, you've got to have a feel for how to drive the dual quads. These were built for the open road and they weren't exactly civil for cruising around town. The decision was made to retain the ram induction but to add EFI for driveability. A manual trans with overdrive would make cruising fun and overcome the 4.10 gear needed to launch this heavy beast. A hydraulic roller cam would maximize power and alleviate the need to regularly remove the intakes to adjust the valves. Yards and yards of Dynamat lined the floors, roof, firewall and doors to keep things quiet so the kiddies in the car seats could nap on long trips. The original KK1 Silver Turquoise paint color was retained as was the black leather interior. I needed to upgrade the wheels as there was no way 14" tires were up to the task of maintaining adhesion with the road considering all the weight and power involved here. I settled on 18-inch Centerline Boulevard wheels custom-ordered with unpolished centers and they were reminiscent of the 1950s and 1960s kidney-bean-style wheels. Overall I achieved the look I wanted with the car."

Michael explains that the original Chrysler 300 letter car series helped to spawn the horsepower races of the 1950s and 1960's. Not classified as muscle cars (defined as a big engine installed in an intermediate or compact car), the big, bruising Chryslers are muscular cars. "Many are restored to stock as owners feel that protects not only their heritage but value also," says Michael. "Mine is tastefully modified with subtle improvements that don't get the purists too upset but make mine a helluva lot more fun to drive." One of these modifications, the stealth infotainment system concealed behind a movable panel of the dash, is almost as comprehensive as the uConnect package you would find in a contemporary Chrysler 300.

The cross-ram fuel-injection setup is a unique, one-off design. From Imagine Injection in Phoenix, Arizona. It was this unusual EFI set up that caught our eye many years ago when caravanning from Phoenix to Las Vegas for that year's Mopars at the Strip (when it was still called Mopars at the Strip). Lifting the hood at a gas stop in Wickenburg, Arizona, we saw that the expected carburetors were missing, replaced by a state-of-the-art fuel-injection set up. Michael explained that not only did fuel injection improve driveability, but in conjunction with the overdrive fifth gear, it substantially improved fuel mileage. It's almost as if it was engineered by Chrysler's engineers in Highland Park back in the 1960s (remember that Corvette offered fuel injection since 1957).

Over the years Michael has joined many Mopar clubs including the Chrysler 300 Club International, the Chrysler 300 Club Inc., AZLX Modern Mopar Muscle, and the 602 (area code) Mopars. He's participated in the Silver State Classic Challenge and the Nevada Open Road Challenge

Michael notes that he doesn't drive the 300K as much as he might like. "I drive my projects a little bit after completing them before parking them and getting involved in my next project. It's a mixed blessing. I've been fortunate to be able to build quite a few Mopars but when I'm into a current build that consumes all my time, I don't enjoy the finished cars as often as I hoped to. One thing I love is that my family is actively involved in the hobby and I have aspirations that my three daughters will get the car bug as they approach driving age in a few years."

"I love my vintage Mopars, but as I've gotten older, and the cars have gotten older I enjoy them differently than I used to," say Michael with a smile. "I don't abuse them like I used to, I have the modern Mopars for that. If I hurt one of the new cars the local dealership delivers the new parts to my shop the next day and I'm well on the way to being back on the road. I had a customer who wrecked his vintage Challenger and although the insurance took care of the bill, the car was down nearly a year for the rebuild. I think that's got to be a collector's worst nightmare."

Concluding our conversation, Michael noted that both the 1964 and 1971 Newports that started it all for him are still in the family. This, as well as the cars he's built since then, remain in his custody. Unlike many of us, he's had space and never has been forced to sell any of his Mopar legacy.